The Royle Family: The Golden Egg Cup

To the strains of Oasis’s 'Half The World Away', another Royle Family special descends upon us and, though the characters are as strong as ever, the material is unfortunately lacking.

The Royle Family has recently (and some would say sensibly) centred upon Barbara and Jim (Sue Johnston and Ricky Tomlinson) since the initial central characters of Denise and Dave (writers Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash) were always rather one note. On the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary, Ma and Pa Royle are surprised by their offspring with varying gifts. Young Anthony, fresh from his successes in IT, gifts them £500 to go on a holiday which is joined by Denise and Dave’s £20 and a Golden Egg Cup from cantankerous Joe.

After much discussion over whether to buy a HD Sky Box or go further afield, the family decide upon a continental holiday with the money (to Prestatyn) and so, armed with Twiggy’s car and satnav, the family find themselves in a Welsh caravan park out of season.

Your enjoyment of any Royle Family show will depend on how you can relate with the central conceit of a nuclear family of Mancunian stock that is being ridiculed and vaunted at the same time: their inherent love of The One Show and the references to Jim's painful “Jeremy Kyle's” and Joe’s fascination with modern technology, namely Anthony’s laptop (“a computer in a bag!?”). It’s not a classic hour of television, but it’s good to see them back on the couch.



Released on DVD on 1st February 2010 by ITV Studios Home Entertainment.

Written by Simon Cole.